CARLOS GARAICOA
“Jardim Frágil” (Fragile Garden), 2019 - 2025
Murano glass, metal, and glass.
The site-specific work combines the pavilion and its orchid exhibition space with a
central sculptural ensemble composed of iron rods, similar to the tools used by
glassblowers, topped by Murano glass figures posed on a glass table. The work is
the result of an artistic residency at Usina de Arte, which began in 2019.
"I effectively play with the contrast of finding mathematical relationships in nature
and, on the other hand, the chaos, or apparent disorder, that we can find in
vegetation. The interplay between control and freedom is present not only in the
pavilion but also in the work "Fragile Garden," from which it originates. The pavilion
was conceived as a prism, a 'controlled' structure, which serves to house orchids,
which represent absolute beauty and freedom. The same occurs in the installation's
'scepters,' which on one side feature a prism and on the other a free-flowing flower-
shaped figure, reminiscent of the orchids that surround it," explains the artist.
Carlos Garaicoa
Havana, Cuba, 1967
Lives and works between Havana and Madrid
https://carlosgaraicoa.com/
Carlos studied thermodynamics and later painting at the Higher Institute of Art in
Havana. Together with his wife, he founded the artist residency project Artista x Artista in Havana. Garaicoa has developed a dialogue between art and urban space
through which he investigates the social structure of our cities in terms of their
architecture. He employs a multidisciplinary approach to address cultural and
political issues through the study of architecture, urban planning, and history. His
most recent solo exhibitions include: Every Utopia Passes Through the Belly, Atlantic
Center of Modern Art (CAAM), Gran Canaria, and Es Baluard Museum of
Contemporary Art in Palma, Spain (2024); Listen to the Flight of Birds, Rocca
Maggiore, Assisi, Italy (2024); Oratory, Oratorio San Filippo Neri, Bologna, Italy
(2022); We Dream on the Scratched Surface of a Glass, Wellbeing Summit Week,
Bilbao, Spain (installation) (2022); Score, PEM Peabody Essex Museum, Salem,
USA (2021). Other solo exhibitions have been presented at the SCAD Museum of
Art, Savannah (2020); Lunds Konsthall and Skissernass Museum, Lund (2019);
Parasol Unit Foundation, London (2018); Fondazione Merz, Turin (2017); MAAT,
Lisbon (2017); Azkuna Zentroa, Bilbao (2017); Museum Villa Stuck, Munich (2016);
Nasjonalmuseet, Oslo (2015); CA2M Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo, Móstoles, Madrid
(2014); Fundación Botín, Santander (2014). She recently received the 2021 PEM
Prize (Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, USA). In 2005 she received the XXXIX
International Prize for Contemporary Art – Prince Pierre of Monaco Foundation, and
the Katherine S. Marmor Prize in Los Angeles.
